Improvement in harvesting-machines



UNITED STATES i Fnrnnr @einen THOMAS S. WHITNAOK, OF EASTON,PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT `IN HARVESTlNG-WACHIES.

Sgccication forming part of Letters Patent No. Sl, dated April 30, 1861.

To all whom t may concern: j Be it known that I, T. S. WHITNAGK, ofEaston, inthe county of Northampton and State of Pennsylvania, haveinvented a new and Improved Harvesting-Machine, and I do hereby declarethat the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same,reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part of thisspecification, in which- Figure 1 is a vertical section of my invention,taken in the line x x, Fig. l; Fig. 2, a back view of the same; Fig. 3,a plan or top sectional view of the same, taken in the line y y, Fig. 2;Fig. 4, a detached plan ortop view of one of the fingers and one of thesickle-teeth; Fig. 5, a transverse section of the same, taken in theline e e, Fig. 2.

Similar letters of reference indicate corre sponding parts in theseveral figures.

To enable those skilled in the art to fully.

understand and construct my invention, I will proceed to describe it.

A represents the main frame of a harvester, in which a wheel, B, isplaced, and O is a caster-wheel, which is attached to an arm, a, at theback part of the main frame. D is the nger bar, which is attached to themain frame A, and projects therefrom at right angl'es, as shown clearlyin Fig. 3.

To the back part of the main frame A there are attached two curved orsegment bars, E E', one at each side. These bars are each provided withtwo curved slots, b b, through which bolts c pass, said bolts securingarms d d to the bars E E', the outer ends of the arms dserving asbearings for a shaft, F. The segment-bars EE form segments of circles ofwhich the shaft of wheel B is the center.

To the inner end of the shaft F there is attached a metal plate or head,G, which has ears or lugs e, projecting from its face at right angles.To each ear or lug e there are attached two arms or braces, f g, byscrews or bolts h, the arms or braces beingallowed to work freely onsaid screws or bolts. Theparm or brace g of each ear or lug e may besecured in a more or less inclined position by a screw, i, which passesthrough a curved slot, j, concentric with its screw or bolt h. (See Fig.2.) To the outer ends of the arms or braces f g bars 7c are attached,said bars forming beaters to act upon the grain in front of the sickle.The bars or beaters 7c are attached to the ends of the arms or braces fg by bolts Z, which pass through oblong slots m in the beaters,v orthrough either of a series of holes, n. (See Fig. 2.) By thisarrangement it will be seen that thebeaters or bar lc may be adjustedfarther in or out,

as desired, and always kept parallel with each will notaffectthe beltwhich communicatesmotion to reel'shaft F from the axle of wheel B. Thisbelt may be tightened at any time when necessary by adjustingthe bars EE a little back on the main frame A.

To the back part of the iinger-bar D there are attached two eyes orbearings, c e', in which a shaft, G, is fitted and allowed to turnfreely. This shaft G has a curved lever, H', attached to its inner end,and to the outer end of 'said shaft there is attached a caster-wheel, I,the axis f of which passes through the lower part of a cap or socket, g,whichv serves as a covering and protector for the wheel I. The cap orsocket g has a pintle, h, in its upper end, which pintle passes throughan arm, 13, attached to shaft G, and forms the joint of thecaster-wheel. This joint is protected by a hood or cover, j', which isattached to the finger-bar D. By this arrangement it will be seen thatneither the axis f of the caster-wheel nor the joint h of its socket gcan be choked' or clogged by cut grass or grain, nor can the icaster-wheel interfere in any way with the passage of the cut grass orgrain over the finger-bar. l

' The caster-wheel I supports the outer part of the nger-bar D, and alsoserves as a means in connection with lever H to raise and jlower thesickle and finger-bar. When the sickle and finger-bar are fullyelevated, the leverH is retained in a backward position by aspringcatch, J, and when the machine is at workI the height of thesickle and iinger-bar is regulated by adjusting a bar, K, at the innerside of the frame A, said barserving as a bearing the finger-bar andsickle at the desired height.

The fingers L of the linger-bar D are at-.

tached to the under side of the bar D, and the face sides of the ngers,at their back part, adjoining theinger-bar, are of concave form at eachside, as shown at LX in Fig. 4., and these concave parts havecutting-edges, as also have the front parts of the face sides over whichthe cutters or teeth M ofthe sickle work. The fingers are provided withthe usual caps, 12X.

The teeth M are attached to a bar, O, and their front parts are of theusual taper or l ypointed form, but their back parts extend or projectbeyond the bar O, and have beveled teeth M. By this arrangement'thesickle is for the lever H, and consequently retainingeffectuallypreventedfromchokingor clogging.

The drvers seat Pis at the back part of the main frame A, and ythe leverH is within reach ofthe driver thereon. A foot-piece, Q,

is placed transversely on the main frame, as

shown in Fig. 3.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

l. Constructing the reel-head Gwith plane plates or ears c for theattachment of the adjustable arms f g, in combination with the said.adjustable arms and the adjustable bars 7c, all

as set forth. Y

2. The arrangement of the slotted supporting-segments E E, having theirsweep concentric with the axis of the driving-wheel B, in

combination with the adjustable arms d, shaft

